All eyes have been on the development of a vaccine that can treat COVID-19, which has claimed several lives across the globe, paralyzed health systems and ravaged economic growth. But the agonizing wait seems to be over! Pfizer Inc.’s (PFE Quick QuotePFE - Free Report) early data from late-stage human trials of the coronavirus vaccine candidate, BNT162b2, has been more than 90% effective in preventing the disease among volunteers with no prior coronavirus infection.

 

Pfizer, incidentally, is developing the coronavirus vaccine candidate with BioNTech SE (BNTX Quick QuoteBNTX - Free Report) , a German biotech firm. On Jul 27, the Phase 3 clinical study of the vaccine candidate began. As of Nov 8, out 43,538 participants, 38,955 had received the second dose.

 

What’s more, the companies confirmed that they haven’t found any serious safety issues till date and are now working on providing the necessary safety reports to the FDA to validate the safety standards of the vaccine candidate. The companies, no doubt, are seeking emergency authorization of the vaccine candidate as early as possible and are looking to manufacture adequate doses to immune people worldwide.

 

Pfizer is seeking emergency authorization of the vaccine candidate for people within the age bracket of 16 to 85. To do so, the drug manufacturer needs to provide two months of safety data of almost 44,000 participants later this month.

 

Pfizer Chairman and CEO, Dr. Albert Bourla, confirmed that they are “a significant step closer to providing people around the world with a much-needed breakthrough to help bring an end to this global health crisis. We look forward to sharing additional efficacy and safety data generated from thousands of participants in the coming weeks.”

 

Nonetheless, Pfizer along with BioNTech became the first among several companies to announce promising results from a late-stage vaccine trial. It’s also true that Pfizer’s progress in some way may assist Moderna, Inc.’s (MRNA Quick QuoteMRNA - Free Report) vaccine, which does apply a similar technology.

 

Notably, the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine is known for using the messenger RNA (mRNA) technology that depends on synthetic genes that can be manufactured in a short span and produced at a large scale. The mRNA technology is basically designed to get the immune system in a body active without the use of pathogens. Moderna uses a similar technology and is set to report its findings from a large-scale trial by the end of this month.

 

Naturally, shares of these drug makers scaled north on Nov 9. Shares of Pfizer and Moderna rose 7.7% and 7.3%, respectively. In fact, Pfizer’s shares in yesterday’s trading session hit an all-time high on COVID-19 vaccine news, a tell-tale sign that once the company gets the final approval for emergence use of its vaccine candidate from the U.S. regulator, its shares will soar further. 

 

Moderna might also taste similar success, which should help its shares rally. Thus, investors might gain from keeping an eye on the latest developments of these two stocks.

 

For the time being, both Pfizer and Moderna possess a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Pfizer’s current-year earnings has moved up 1.1% over the past 60 days. In addition, the company’s expected earnings growth rate for the next five-year period is 3.2%. This is because Pfizer’s Consumer Healthcare joint venture with GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK Quick QuoteGSK - Free Report) and the awaiting merger of Upjohn unit with Mylan N.V. will surely help the company branch out its portfolio of drugs. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

 

Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Moderna’s next-quarter earnings has risen 37.5% over the past 60 days. In fact, the company’s expected earnings growth rate for the next quarter and current year is 42.9% and 21.3%, respectively. It’s worth concluding that there are many mRNA-based pipeline candidates in Moderna’s arsenal.

Be among the early investors in the new type of device that experts say could impact society as much as the discovery of electricity. Current technology will soon be outdated and replaced by these new devices. In the process, it’s expected to create 22 million jobs and generate $12.3 trillion in activity.

 

A select few stocks could skyrocket the most as rollout accelerates for this new tech. Early investors could see gains similar to buying Microsoft in the 1990s. Zacks’ just-released special report reveals 8 stocks to watch. The report is only available for a limited time.